This nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119(a) on Patent Application No. 2001-0067223 filed in KOREA on Oct. 30, 2001, which is herein incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a suction valve assembly opened and closed by a fluid pressure, and more particularly, to a suction valve assembly of a compressor that is capable of preventing generation of a dead volume inside a compressor.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a suction valve assembly is installed between a compression chamber in which a fluid is compressed in a compressor or the like and a suction passage which sucks the fluid, so that, when the fluid is sucked, the suction valve assembly is opened by an inertia and supplies the fluid introduced through the suction passage to the compression chamber, and when the fluid is compressed, the suction valve assembly prevents the fluid being compressed in the compression chamber from flowing backward to the suction passage.
FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of a compressor employing the suction valve assembly in accordance with a conventional art, and FIG. 2 is a view showing an operational state of the compressor employing the suction valve assembly in accordance with the conventional art.
The conventional compressor includes a cylinder fixedly disposed at a case (not shown) and forming a compression chamber 102, a piston 106 inserted into the cylinder 104 to be linearly and reciprocally movable to compress a fluid, and a suction valve assembly disposed at a front side of the piston 106 and opening and closing the fluid being sucked.
The piston 106 includes a suction passage 108 formed at the center thereof in a longitudinal direction to suck a fluid. A support portion 112 is formed at a front side of the piston 106, having a suction hole 110 to supply the fluid introduced into the suction passage 108 to the compression chamber 102. A valve seat 114 is formed at a front side of the support portion 112.
The suction valve assembly consists of a valve body 116 tightly adhered to the valve seat 114 and opened and closed, and a connection bolt 118 connected between the valve body 116 and the support portion 112 in order to prevent the valve body from releasing from the valve seat 114.
The valve body 116 is formed tapered with a certain angle at its outer circumferential surface and contacted to the valve seat 114, a through hole 120 is formed at the center thereof that the connection bolt 118 penetrates, and a guide groove 124 is formed with a diameter extended from the through hole 120 so that a bolt head 126 of the connection bolt 118 can be inserted to be linearly movable.
The connection bolt 118 passes the through hole 120 and bolt-engaged with the support portion 112, and the bolt head 126 of the connection bolt 118 is inserted into and linearly movable in the guide groove 124.
That is, when the valve body 116 is linearly moved and released from the valve seat 114, the bolt head of the connection bolt 118 is hooked at the inner side of the guide groove 124, so as to prevent the valve body 116 from releasing outwardly from the piston 106.
In the conventional suction valve assembly of a compressor constructed as described above, when the piston 106 is retreated by the operation of the driving unit (not shown) of the compressor to supply a fluid into the compression chamber 102, the valve body 116 is released from the valve seat 114 owing to the pressure of the fluid, so that the fluid introduced into the suction hole 110 of the piston is supplied to the compression chamber 102.
In this state, when the piston 106 is advanced for a compression operation of the fluid, the valve body 116 is tightly contacted to the valve seat 114 owing to the pressure of the fluid, whereby the fluid of the compression chamber 102 is prevented from flowing backward to the suction side.
However, the conventional suction valve assembly of a compressor has the following problems. That is, as described above, the guide groove with a certain volume is formed in the valve body so that the bolt head supporting the linear movement of the valve body can be linearly moved. In this respect, since the guide groove forms a portion of the compression chamber, the fluid of the compression chamber is introduced into the guide groove, when the fluid is compressed, to create a dead volume, which results in degradation of a compression efficiency.
In addition, when the fluid is compressed, in order to prevent the fluid from leaking into a gap between the through hole formed at the valve body and the connection bolt, a precision processing is required for sealing the parts. This causes a problem of increase in a fabrication cost.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a suction valve assembly of a compressor in which a guide groove inside a compression chamber is removed to prevent generation of a dead volume, thereby improving an efficiency of a compressor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a suction valve assembly of a compressor in which a portion of a valve from which a fluid is leaked is removed to thereby reduce a fabrication cost and prevent degradation of a compression efficiency due to fluid leakage as a precision processing of a part for preventing the fluid leakage is not necessary.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a suction valve assembly of a compressor including: a piston disposed movable in a cylinder forming a compression chamber, having a suction passage for sucking a fluid and a valve seat formed at a front side thereof; a valve body contacted to the valve seat to open and close the fluid, of which a front side making a portion of the compression chamber is formed hermetical; a support rod inserted into a rear portion of the valve body and fixed at one side of the piston and supporting the valve body to be moved in a certain range; and a release preventing unit formed between the valve body and the support rod to prevent the valve body from releasing from the support rod.
In the suction valve assembly of a compressor of the present invention, the valve body of the suction valve assembly is formed tapered at its outer circumferential surface with a certain angle so as to be tightly adhered to the valve seat, and has a through hole formed at a rear side, into which the support rod is inserted, and a space part extended from the through hole and having a diameter larger than that of the through hole.
In the suction valve assembly of a compressor of the present invention, the support rod is formed integrally with the support portion formed at a front side of the piston.
In the suction valve assembly of a compressor of the present invention, the release preventing unit of the suction valve assembly includes a female screw formed at an inner circumferential face of an insertion groove of a valve body and a male screw formed at an end portion of the support rod and engaged with the female screw.
In the suction valve assembly of a compressor of the present invention, the space part of the valve body is formed with a certain gap so that an inner side of the space part and an upper face of the male screw of the support rod are not in contact with each other when the valve body is tightly adhered to the valve seat.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.